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The White House harshly criticized Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the top House Republican, on Tuesday, calling him “completely out of touch with America” because of his opposition to new regulations on Wall Street.

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, took aim at Mr. Boehner, who in a newspaper interview this week called the financial legislation nearing final approval an excessive response to the problem. “This is killing an ant with a nuclear weapon,” Mr. Boehner told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Monday.

At his daily briefing, Mr. Gibbs said Mr. Boehner was “opening one’s mouth and removing most of the doubt that you’re completely out of touch with America,” noting that millions of Americans lost their jobs or their savings because of the financial crisis that the legislation is intended to prevent. “It demonstrates how out of touch you are currently and it demonstrates exactly the type of mindset that he would bring to leading the House of Representatives,” he added.

Mr. Boehner’s spokesman, Michael Steel, said the White House “should be focused on solving the problems of the American people” like jobs and the oil spill rather than focusing on a metaphor. “It’s clear Boehner was not minimizing the crisis America faced,” Mr. Steel said. “He was pointing out that Washington Democrats have produced a bill that will actually kill more jobs and make the situation worse.”