WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday tried to fend off criticism of President Obama’s decision not to attend the funeral this weekend of Justice Antonin Scalia, but even some administration allies lamented the move as a missed opportunity to ease the partisan warfare that has followed the justice’s death.

Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, will pay their respects by visiting the Supreme Court on Friday, when Justice Scalia will lie in repose in the Great Hall. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is Catholic — as was Justice Scalia — and had a personal relationship with him and his family, will attend the funeral on Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception along with his wife, Jill.

Facing questions again on Thursday about the decision, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, did not offer a direct answer but implied that one reason was the potential for the extensive presidential security detail to be disruptive.