diff --git a/cmd/lfx-v1-sync-helper/handlers_users.go b/cmd/lfx-v1-sync-helper/handlers_users.go
index 034fcee..dba3384 100644
--- a/cmd/lfx-v1-sync-helper/handlers_users.go
+++ b/cmd/lfx-v1-sync-helper/handlers_users.go
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ var (
 	deleteIndexKeyFn                 = deleteIndexKey
 )
 
+// handleMergedUserDelete dependencies, split out so tests can inject fakes
+// without needing a live NATS connection.
+var publishUserDeletedEventFn = publishUserDeletedEvent
+
 // toKVKey normalizes a user-provided string and encodes it as a URL-safe base64
 // key segment safe for NATS KV. Order: TrimSpace → ToLower → NFC → RawURLEncoding.
 // NFC unifies decomposed/precomposed Unicode (e.g. n\u0303 ≡ ñ) without semantic
@@ -117,8 +121,9 @@ func handleMergedUserUpdate(ctx context.Context, key string, v1Data map[string]a
 
 // handleMergedUserDelete processes deletion of a merged user record: deletes
 // the username -> SFID secondary index so future lookups do not resolve a
-// deleted user. Soft deletes and hard KV deletes both arrive here; v1Data is
-// nil for a hard KV delete.
+// deleted user, then publishes a NATS event so downstream v2 services can
+// scrub the username from project and committee settings.
+// Soft deletes and hard KV deletes both arrive here; v1Data is nil for a hard KV delete.
 // Returns true if the operation should be retried, false otherwise.
 func handleMergedUserDelete(ctx context.Context, key, userSfid string, v1Data map[string]any) bool {
 	if v1Data == nil {
@@ -146,9 +151,41 @@ func handleMergedUserDelete(ctx context.Context, key, userSfid string, v1Data ma
 	// In practice the alternate email rows are deleted before or alongside the user row, so
 	// handleAlternateEmailDelete cleans those up individually — but if the user is deleted
 	// without its alternate emails being deleted first, those entries will be orphaned.
+
+	if username != "" {
+		publishUserDeletedEventFn(ctx, key, username)
+	}
+
 	return false
 }
 
+// userDeletedEvent is the payload published to "lfx.v1-sync-helper.user.deleted" when a
+// merged user is soft-deleted. The committee and project services subscribe to this
+// subject and scrub the username from settings writers/auditors (and committee members).
+type userDeletedEvent struct {
+	Username string `json:"username"`
+}
+
+const v1SyncHelperUserDeletedSubject = "lfx.v1-sync-helper.user.deleted"
+
+// publishUserDeletedEvent publishes a user-deleted NATS event. Best-effort: publish
+// errors are logged and do not affect the delete handler's return value.
+func publishUserDeletedEvent(ctx context.Context, key, username string) {
+	payload, err := json.Marshal(userDeletedEvent{Username: username})
+	if err != nil {
+		logger.With(errKey, err, "key", key).
+			ErrorContext(ctx, "failed to marshal user-deleted event; username scrub skipped")
+		return
+	}
+	if err := natsConn.Publish(v1SyncHelperUserDeletedSubject, payload); err != nil {
+		logger.With(errKey, err, "key", key).
+			ErrorContext(ctx, "failed to publish user-deleted event; username scrub skipped")
+		return
+	}
+	logger.With("key", key, "username", username).
+		InfoContext(ctx, "published user-deleted event for v2 username scrub")
+}
+
 // syncMergedUserProfile calls syncProfileToAuth0Fn synchronously and returns
 // true if the error is retryable so the caller can NACK the JetStream message.
 func syncMergedUserProfile(ctx context.Context, key, auth0UserID string, v1Data map[string]any) bool {
diff --git a/cmd/lfx-v1-sync-helper/handlers_users_test.go b/cmd/lfx-v1-sync-helper/handlers_users_test.go
index 99ba06f..6e941d7 100644
--- a/cmd/lfx-v1-sync-helper/handlers_users_test.go
+++ b/cmd/lfx-v1-sync-helper/handlers_users_test.go
@@ -320,6 +320,79 @@ func TestExtractUsernameIndex(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestHandleMergedUserDeleteScrub verifies that handleMergedUserDelete triggers the
+// username scrub (NATS publish) when a username is present in the payload.
+func TestHandleMergedUserDeleteScrub(t *testing.T) {
+	origLogger := logger
+	origDeleteIndex := deleteIndexKeyFn
+	origPublish := publishUserDeletedEventFn
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		logger = origLogger
+		deleteIndexKeyFn = origDeleteIndex
+		publishUserDeletedEventFn = origPublish
+	})
+	logger = slog.New(slog.NewTextHandler(io.Discard, nil))
+	deleteIndexKeyFn = func(_ context.Context, _ string) error { return nil }
+
+	const (
+		userSfid = "003ABC"
+		username = "alice"
+	)
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name          string
+		v1Data        map[string]any
+		wantPublished bool
+		wantUsername  string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "username present → publish event",
+			v1Data: map[string]any{
+				"sfid":        userSfid,
+				"username__c": username,
+			},
+			wantPublished: true,
+			wantUsername:  username,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "no username → no publish",
+			v1Data: map[string]any{
+				"sfid": userSfid,
+			},
+			wantPublished: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "nil v1Data (hard KV delete) → no publish",
+			v1Data:        nil,
+			wantPublished: false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			var publishedUsername string
+			var publishCalled bool
+
+			publishUserDeletedEventFn = func(_ context.Context, _, u string) {
+				publishCalled = true
+				publishedUsername = u
+			}
+
+			got := handleMergedUserDelete(context.Background(), "test-key", userSfid, tc.v1Data)
+
+			if got {
+				t.Errorf("handleMergedUserDelete() = true, want false")
+			}
+			if publishCalled != tc.wantPublished {
+				t.Errorf("publishCalled = %v, want %v", publishCalled, tc.wantPublished)
+			}
+			if tc.wantPublished && publishedUsername != tc.wantUsername {
+				t.Errorf("published username = %q, want %q", publishedUsername, tc.wantUsername)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 // TestExtractEmailIndex covers the field extraction for the alternate_email reindex phase.
 func TestExtractEmailIndex(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {