UPDATE 3-US House speaker wants product safety chief to go

(Recasts; adds lawmaker and White House comments)

By Kevin Drawbaugh and Diane Bartz

WASHINGTON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - The top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives called on Tuesday for the nation's chief product safety regulator to resign, following a wave of recalls this year of millions of lead-tainted toys made in China.

As the White House and business groups criticized legislation meant to beef up safety oversight, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats urged the ouster of Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Acting Chairman Nancy Nord.

A bill approved by the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday, like other proposals in the House, would give the the safety agency more money and staff. The small agency has about 420 employees, less than half its workforce in the 1980s.

The safety agency, criticized at a September hearing for having just one employee testing toys, has come under intense scrutiny amid the flurry of recalls.

In early October alone, recalls ranged from Cub Scout badges to play blocks and Halloween candy buckets.

"Any commission chair who ... says we don't need any more authority or any more resources to do our job does not understand the gravity of the situation," Pelosi said.

"I would join my colleagues ... in calling upon the president of the United States to ask for the resignation."