PostgreSQL: insert from another table

You can supply literal values in the SELECT:

INSERT INTO TABLE1 (id, col_1, col_2, col_3)
SELECT id, 'data1', 'data2', 'data3'
FROM TABLE2
WHERE col_a="something";

A select list can contain any value expression:

But the expressions in the select list do not have to reference any columns in the table expression of the FROM clause; they can be constant arithmetic expressions, for instance.

And a string literal is certainly a value expression.