Secretary of Defense Orders Pentagon Suspend the Collection of Bonuses From California National Guard Soldiers Thousands of vets were asked to give back bonuses they received a decade ago.

 -- In response to a national outcry, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has ordered the Pentagon to suspend the collection of bonuses that were improperly paid to members of California's National Guard.

The Los Angeles Times was first to report on Saturday that thousands of National Guard soldiers had been ordered to repay enlistment bonuses of at least $15,000 a decade after signing up to serve.

The Pentagon asked for the money back after it found that the California National Guard had paid bonuses to guardsmen who did not meet the qualifications.

Several soldiers said they felt the Pentagon’s efforts to recollect the bonuses were unfair and imposed a financial hardship on veterans, many who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I have ordered the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to suspend all efforts to collect reimbursement from affected California National Guard members, effective as soon as is practical," Carter said in a statement Wednesday.

Carter also assigned a team of senior Defense Department officials to investigate the situation and “establish no later than Jan. 1 a streamlined, centralized process that ensures the fair and equitable treatment of our service members and the rapid resolution of these cases.”

“About 2,000 have been asked, in keeping with the law, to repay erroneous payments. There is an established process in place by which service members can seek relief from such obligations,” Carter said. “Hundreds of affected Guard members in California have sought and been granted relief. But that process has simply moved too slowly and in some cases imposed unreasonable burdens on service members. That is unacceptable.”

The Pentagon has previously said that in many cases the bonuses were issued in criminal error and the guilty parties served time in jail. Six California Guardsman, including the person who ran the bonus program, served jail time for their involvement in fraudulently issuing payments to Guardsmen who did not qualify for the payments. Another 40 were punished administratively for collusion in receiving payments they were not entitled to receive.

ABC News reported Tuesday that the California National Guard notified Congress and other federal leaders in 2014 that it wanted legislation that would have provided relief to Guardsmen required to pay their re-enlistment bonuses and student loan repayments back to the Pentagon.

Carter, who is meeting with NATO defense ministers in Brussels, promised that the Pentagon “will provide for a process that puts as little burden as possible on any soldier who received an improper payment through no fault of his or her own.”

“At the same time, it will respect our important obligation to the taxpayer,” he said. He also made clear that it would take an act of Congress to put a full stop to the collection efforts and that today's action merely suspended them.

"The California National Guard cannot waive debts unilaterally, as that authority rests at the federal level," read a statement issued Tuesday by the California Military Department. "In 2014, however, California National Guard leadership did reach out to congressional and other federal leaders to encourage alleviation of these debts. Since recent media reports, many legislative leaders (both state and federal) have expressed an interest in supporting this action to waive the debts."

"We are working with Congressional leaders to support a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that provides relief to soldiers," the statement continued. "That vote is expected to take place at the end of the calendar year."

It will take action by Congress to help people like Susan Haley, who was told to pay back her $15,000 bonus with interest. She already has a $650 monthly payment to the Pentagon.

"We have already exhausted our savings," Haley, who has a combined five decades of service between she and her husband, told ABC News prior to Carter's statement.

Guardsmen Christopher van Meter, who survived a roadside bomb in Iraq and received a Purple Heart, was also told to pay up. Van Meter's total was $46,000.

"It was a slap in the face," he said.

But House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy doesn't recall the California National Guard coming to Congress with an interest in waiving debts.

"Never did I hear this come up," he said in an interview Tuesday with Fox News.

However, a senior House GOP aide told ABC News on Tuesday that the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are working to address the concerns about debt repayments in the annual defense policy bill Congress is expected to pass by mid-December.

Following Carter's announcement, some Congress members praised the decision, including House Speaker Paul Ryan who said the Pentagon "came to its senses." Others continue to call for a legislative solution that would provide relief to soldiers who have already paid some or all of their bonuses back.

In a statement Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, said he would continue to draft legislation.

"It should not fall on the shoulders of those who serve our country to pay for the mistakes of others that offered these incentives improperly or allowed the error to go undiscovered for so many years," he said.

McCarthy said that while he was pleased with the Defense Department's response, legislative action needs to be achieved "so that this never happens again."

Still, others were quick to point out that something could have been done to remedy this problem earlier.

“This isn’t just the right action to take, it’s the only action to take—and I’m pleased that the secretary of Defense is waiving repayment for most Guardsmen," Rep. Duncan Hunter said. "But it shouldn’t be lost on anyone that the secretary is taking this action through existing authority and that same authority could have been exercised at any point since the size and scope of the situation was realized."

ABC News' Luis Martinez, Ben Siegel, Justin Fishel, and Mary Bruce contributed to this report.