>> Everything I’ve read said that a recess appointment is not possible for SCOTUS <<
I think you’re wrong. Please cite chapter and verse.
And by the way, Prez Bush successfully made a recess appointment for Judge Charles Pickering, who then served for a year or so on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Therefore, precedent shows that the Judicial Branch of the federal government is subject to the same constitutional provisions on recess appointments as is the executive branch. The constitution doesn’t differentiate between the two branches.
Moreover, any attempt by statute to carve out a special status on recess appointments for the SCOTUS would surely be struck down as extra-constitutional.
William J. Brennan, Earl Warren, and Potter Stewart were all (originally) recess appointments by Eisenhower.
This one will go to the voters in November.
There have been 12 recess appointments to the Supreme Court, of whom 11 were subsequently confirmed.