Jackson's confirmation proceedings show that historically partisan Supreme Court fights are the new normal

The legal stakes around Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation may be lower than they have been in the past decade of Supreme Court fights. But that did little to defuse the partisan atmosphere that has now come to define nominations to America's highest bench.

Jackson's final vote on the Senate floor later this week will be among the closest in Supreme Court history, even if her confirmation was never truly in doubt. Much of the committee proceedings around her nomination were focused on the fights around prior nominees and which party should be blamed for politicizing the Supreme Court confirmation process.

In announcing her support of Jackson, Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski said explicitly that in addition to being satisfied on Jackson's individual credentials, she wanted to reject the "corrosive politicization of the review process for Supreme Court nominees, which, on both sides of the aisle, is growing worse and more detached from reality by the year."