I don't think it is a big problem given functions like fs.readFileSync already exists. It doesn't have to be a JS standard but be a server-side JS runtime specific function, which can be used when hacks are needed.
I agree. The blame belongs to the NodeJS steering committee. It's their failure and it's a big one.
The only excuse is that ESM happened during the big Deno Node wars when the community was split, everyone was mad and, apparently making dumb decisions.
I read that a new version of NodeJS has revised require() to bring in ESM modules. That's good enough. (I would prefer importSync() for clarity.)