See this report in The Hill. Larry Solum has blogged extensively about this possibility in the past and I expect he’ll write about this again if the idea gains momentum. As a political matter, I think putting Pickering on the bench through a recess appointment would give the Democrats a good issue to run on with core Democratic voters.
UPDATE: As hoped, Larry Solum has responded with a thoughful post. See here I would just add regarding the Barnett proposal that it may be rational to threaten to do so, but Republicans won’t do it. It would just give Democrats more fodder.