Hi @dabe thanks for writing in! The Firm Staffing Chart has slightly different hourly rates than the budget (for example, $123/hr. and $125/hr., respectively) because it’s common to round hourly rates up or down, so that they land in $5 increments.
As for this question specifically - I would say that even if a project phase isn’t over budget, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take proactive steps as the PM to make sure there are no issues that could become bigger as the project moves forward. This question give 4 choices, all of which are ‘replace XX employee’. So, I would view this question as ‘which of these 4 employees is the most justifiable to replace on the project’. Reading questions and answer choices and sort of reformulating the question takes some practice, but is a good test taking strategy!
Happy studying 