Treasury ramps up review as it deploys stimulus relief funds.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department is moving ahead with a formal racial equity review of the agency and its programs, putting in place an effort to ensure that economic fairness is prioritized throughout the Biden administration as it begins to disburse $1.9 trillion in relief money.

The initiative is expected to be led by Adewale Adeyemo once he is confirmed as deputy Treasury secretary, according to people familiar with the matter. It will be undertaken in close collaboration with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is making racial equity a centerpiece of her agenda as she oversees the disbursement of much of the stimulus package.

The review follows an executive order that President Joe Biden signed in January requiring federal agencies to pursue racial equity and to support underserved communities in their policies and programming.

Treasury is developing its own civil rights strategy and, as part of that, is working to ensure that financial assistance distributed through the latest relief legislation is allocated fairly. The White House noted in January that previous rounds of stimulus checks were sometimes slow to arrive to people of color. And minority business owners who did not have close ties to banks often had difficulty gaining access to the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses.

All federal agencies are required to submit diversity and inclusion plans to the Office of Management and Budget this month, under the terms of the executive order.

The Treasury Department is also reviewing its personnel policies to ensure that the agency and the departments that it oversees — including the IRS and the U.S. Mint — are diverse and inclusive.

As part of that, it plans to send a team to assess the U.S. Mint, which has faced long-standing accusations of fostering a culture of racism. The Treasury inspector general opened an investigation last year into what employees described as “rampant racism” at the agency.

Yellen has already taken steps to create a more inclusive atmosphere at Treasury and to demonstrate her desire to promote racial equity. She announced plans this month to invest $9 billion into Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions as they look to step up lending.