The 48th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1883, to March 4, 1885, during the last two years of Chester A. Arthur's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1880 United States census. The Senate had a Republican majority, and the House had a Democratic majority.

Chester A. Arthur's tenure as the 21st president of the United States began on September 19, 1881, when he succeeded to the presidency upon the assassination of President James A. Garfield, and ended on March 4, 1885. Arthur, a Republican, had been vice president for 199 days when he succeeded to the presidency. In ill health and lacking the full support of his party by the end of his term, Arthur made only a token effort for the Republican presidential nomination in the 1884 presidential election. He was succeeded by Democrat Grover Cleveland.