There Goes The Ceasefire

10.29.25

Happy Wednesday and welcome back to today’s edition of Common Sense with Ally Sammarco—your daily briefing on U.S. politics. Let’s break it down.

Israel Violates Ceasefire Agreement…..Israel announced that the Gaza ceasefire was back in effect after launching a wave of airstrikes that killed over 100 Palestinians, including at least 40 children, according to Gaza health officials. The Israeli military said the strikes were ordered by Prime Minister Netanyahu in response to what it called Hamas attacks on soldiers in Rafah—a claim Hamas denied. The attacks, which hit homes and tents sheltering displaced civilians, were described by aid officials as some of the deadliest since the truce began. President Trump defended Israel’s actions, saying it had the right to “hit back,” while insisting the ceasefire still stands.

Common Sense takeaway: There goes the ceasefire. It’s clear that this administration has no respect in the eyes of foreign leaders. JD Vance tried to salvage the situation by saying “The ceasefire is holding. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t going to be little skirmishes here and there.” The only problem is 100 Palestinians died, including 40 children. That’s not a little “skirmish”—that’s a continuation of the genocide that was occurring.

Senate Votes to Roll Back Trump’s Brazil Tariffs….In a rare bipartisan moment, the Senate approved a 52-48 measure to terminate President Trump’s tariffs on Brazilian imports like coffee and beef. The vote was seeking to reverse a “national emergency” that Donald Trump declared back in July in retaliation for Brazil’s prosecution of it’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for an alleged coup attempt.

Common Sense takeaway: When the Senate agrees on something, you know you messed up—also, his reasoning for imposing tariffs on Brazil in the first place sound oddly familiar. Know what I mean?

Judge Tightens Scrutiny on Immigration Crackdown in Chicago….A federal judge has ordered enhanced oversight of the U.S. Border Patrol and its commander-at-large in Chicago Gregory Bovino, requiring daily court appearances after videos showed officers using tear-gas canisters in enforcement operations against protestors and bystanders. The judge also ordered him to hand over all body-camera video. The move heightens scrutiny of ICE, which has slashed training programs as it races to hire 10,000 new deportation officers.

Common Sense takeaway: A lot of people don’t know this, but ICE massively reduced their training program recently from 18 weeks to 8 weeks, which includes time to be trained using a lethal weapon—all under the direction of the Trump Administration. Naturally, officers are going to come out of the program less prepared and more dangerous to the community as a result.

Fed Cuts Interest Rates By A Quarter Point….The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point on Tuesday, citing stubbornly high inflation and a recent uptick in unemployment. The move marks the Fed’s latest effort to steady a cooling economy amid limited available data caused by the ongoing government shutdown. Chair Jerome Powell spoke at 2:30pm ET today, where he outlined how the Fed plans to balance inflation risks with slowing growth. President Trump wasted no time attacking Powell again—calling him “clueless” for not slashing rates more aggressively.

Common Sense takeaway: The Fed is doing the best they can among so much uncertainty in the market and the government and unreliable data. Trump obviously wishes they were an arm of the executive branch and could manipulate the markets into being whatever he wants them to be. That’s not how this works, Don.

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading Common Sense with Ally Sammarco. Check back tomorrow for more.