Well, what do you know…
In 1960 Democrats passed a resolution against election-year Supreme Court recess appointments.
The vote passed 52-33 with 14 Democrats not voting.
Republican senators opposed this resolution but were defeated.
Senator John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts voted with the majority.
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Via David Bernstein at the Washington Post’s Volokh Conspiracy Blog:
Thanks to a VC 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 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.
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