Senate Democrats in 1960 pass resolution against election-year Supreme Court recess a

Flashback: Senate Democrats in 1960 pass resolution against election-year Supreme Court recess appointments

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By David Bernstein
February 13

Thanks to a Volokh Conspiracy commenter, I discovered that in August 1960, the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a resolution, S.RES. 334, “Expressing the sense of the Senate that the president should not make recess appointments to the Supreme Court, except to prevent or end a breakdown in the administration of the Court’s business.” Each of President Eisenhower’s Supreme Court appointments had initially been a recess appointment who was later confirmed by the Senate, and the Democrats were apparently concerned that Ike would try to fill any last-minute vacancy that might arise with a recess appointment. Not surprisingly, the Republicans objected, insisting that the Court should have a full complement of Justices at all times. Of course, the partisan arguments will be exactly the opposite this time.

UPDATE: Updated with a link to the final vote on the resolution, 48 Democrats voting “yea”, 33 Republicans and 4 Democrats voting “nay.” Also, note that President Eisenhower had recess-appointed William Brennan to the Supreme Court in October 1956, just before the presidential election. With a winnable election coming up, Democrats obviously didn’t want a replay.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-appointments/

S.RES. 334. EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE PRES. SHOULD NOT MAKE RECESS APPOINTMENTS TO THE SUPREME COURT, EXCEPT TO PREVENT OR END A BREAKDOWN IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE COURT'S BUSINESS. KEATING MOTION TO RECOMMIT TO JUDICARY COMM.

This vote was to kill a nonbinding resolution proposed by the Democrats who hoped to prevent President Eisenhower from using recess appointments to fill a vacancy in the Supreme Court. (This vote failed, and the resolution was subsequently passed.)
Although the vote occurred in an election year, there is no indication that this vote was about election year appointments specifically. Eisenhower had used the recess appointment power to make previous appointments to the Supreme Court, and Democrats objected to further use of the recess appointment power. No President has used the recess appointment power to appoint a justice of the Supreme Court since then.
A recess appointment is made while the Senate is in recess, and while such appointments do not require Senate approval they instead expire at the end of the subsequent legislative session (these days, a calendar year). The Washington Post explained:

Each of President Eisenhower’s SCOTUS appointments had initially been a recess appointment who was later confirmed by the Senate, and the Democrats were apparently concerned that Ike would try to fill any last-minute vacancy that might arise with a recess appointment. Not surprisingly, the Republicans objected, insisting that the Court should have a full complement of Justices at all times.

These days, the Senate often holds pro forma sessions, by gaveling-in for one minute each day, rather than go on recess in a time when the President is expected to use the recess appointment or pocket veto power, thus typically preventing recess appointments. On Feb. 14, 2016, President Obama stated that he would not use the recess appointment power to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Scalia, which occurred during a Senate recess.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/s415