Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., has been offered the Cabinet post of attorney general by President-elect Donald Trump, according to a report by CBS News.

"It wasn't immediately clear if Trump has formally offered the job to Sessions, a lawyer who was an early and ardent Trump backer. A Trump aide on Thursday night called Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a one-time Trump rival who was also under serious consideration for the role, to tell him the job was instead going to Sessions, according to one of the sources," Bloomberg News reports.

Sessions had played an influential role in Trump's campaign, serving as a national security adviser, helping craft the campaign's immigration platform and going on the stump in support of Trump in swing states.

Sessions met with Trump in New York on Wednesday as the Republican president-elect shores up his cabinet picks. After the meeting the Trump campaign issued a statement praising Sessions.

"While nothing has been finalized and he is still talking with others as he forms his cabinet, the President-elect has been unbelievably impressed with Senator Sessions and his phenomenal record as Alabama's Attorney General and U.S. Attorney. It is no wonder the people of Alabama re-elected him without opposition," the campaign said.

Richard Shelby, Alabama's Senior Senator, described Sessions as an "excellent choice for any role in President-elect Trump's cabinet."

"Not only would Jeff bring integrity and immense expertise to the role of attorney general due to his decades of experience in the legal field and an impressive tenure on the Senate Judiciary Committee, but Jeff also has gained the deep respect of his Senate colleagues for his commitment to upholding the rule of law," Shelby said.

Sessions' nomination will head to a Senate Committee. If a majority of the committee members sign off on Sessions, his nomination will go to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

If confirmed, Sessions would be the first Alabamian to head a Cabinet-level federal agency since Birmingham native Condoleezza Rice was President George W. Bush's national security adviser and led the State Department in Bush's administration.

Sessions' decision to take a post in Trump's Cabinet means Gov. Robert Bentley will appoint his successor in the Senate.

Alabama's junior senator had been a leading voice in the upper chamber on illegal immigration. One of the hallmarks of his tenure was his role in killing the so-called Gang of Eight's immigration reform bill in 2013 -- a compromise hashed out by senators on both sides of the aisle that would have addressed border security while also providing a pathway to citizenship for illegals.

Sessions was first elected to the Senate in 1996, succeeding retiring Democrat Howell Heflin.

Prior to the Senate, Sessions served as Alabama attorney general in the mid-1990s and was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama during the Ronald Reagan administration.

Reagan appointed Sessions for a federal judgeship in Alabama, but was not confirmed for the post amid contentious hearings in the Judiciary Committee.

Sessions had been accused by black colleagues in the U.S. attorney's office of making disparaging racial remarks toward them and for allegedly holding the Ku Klux Klan in high regard until he learned that some members smoked marijuana, according to a 1986 New York Times story.