During the existence of the Independent State of Croatia, from 1941 till 1945, Tomašić belonged to the middle fraction of the HSS, gathered around Vladko Maček; he was also a member of the immediate war leadership of the Party.
Budak and Vladko Maček served as lawyers representing Marko Hranilović and Matija Soldin in a highly publicized trial amidst the January 6th Dictatorship.