The bill passed both houses of congress with no debate, but was vetoed by President Ulysses S Grant on 11 January 1870 who returned it to the Senate without his signature with the following statement: "To the Senate of the United States: I return herewith without my approval Senate bill No. 273, entitled An act for the relief of Rollin White, for the reasons set forth in the accompanying communication, dated December 11, 1869 from the Chief of Ordinance Alexander Brydie Dyer."
Dyer's objection was on the grounds that White holding on to his patent during the American Civil War served as "an inconvenience and embarrassment" to Union forces for the "inability of manufacturers to use this patent". Dyer went on to write that "its further extension will operate prejudicially to its interests by compelling it to pay to parties already well paid a large royalty for altering its revolvers to use metallic cartridges."